“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” -Fran Lebowitz

Some “Like It” a Lot

How many times have you logged into Facebook and seen in the corner of your home screen that its somebody’s birthday and sent them your best wishes?

Been on twitter and felt compelled to retweet someone’s content? Or even commented on a random blog like mine?

While at times these may seem like completely meaningless and empty gestures. They may actually have profound direct or residual effects for yourself or others. Here’s a blog that highlights how simple Facebook makes it to wish someone a happy birthday and how the author considers it “a charming ritual to spam a friends wall with obnoxious things.” I couldn’t agree more with these sentiments. I mean not only is the simple acknowledgement of another’s birthday a quick and easy way to show your appreciation for this person but the power of reciprocity is strong. There’s really no telling how they’ll pay it forward.

Tons of information exists on the power of the retweet, great reasons to retweet, or how you can even measure these things. Though its crucial to first decide how you’d like to position yourself with regards to social media or networking and further this “personal brand” accordingly. For example, the majority of my posts are about social media/networking so I tweet content that reflects these concerns. The link on the power of twitter denotes that “Social media is a great way to boost your searchability and online presence. ReTweeting allows you not only to share great information with your followers, but increase your visibility in search engines. Retweeting also helps the originator of the tweet increase their visibility too. It’s a true “win-win!”

These very same principals can be applied to nearly any form of social media including a cunning comment on someone’s blog. Good blog comments really contribute to the discussion or discourse. Below is a neat video on YouTube about how to leave a good blog comment.

Never underestimate your value to others online! In the vein of an old English proverb, “We never know the worth of water til’ the well is dry.”